The other day I learned that I had a small paper cut on my finger, and I learned this when I reached into pull a pickle out of a jar. It was a small surprise for sure because I didn’t remember buying the pickles that had thorns. It’s the surprise and sudden pains that can sometimes hurt the most. But it can also be that these pains serve as a reminder that there is an issue that needs to be addressed.
This is how it works when we feel convicted by the Holy Spirit. There are times that we have lost our way and find ourselves stuck in some sin. We know the difference between what is right and wrong, and then we choose wrong. This is the nature of being a sinner. Sinning is something we can do effortlessly, and it is the thing we need to try so hard to fight.
Thankfully this is not a fight we need to take on alone. 1 Corinthians 15:53-56, 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We’ve all heard that the wages of sin is death, and if all we had is sin, then we would have nothing to look forward to. However, we have a savior who has blotted out our sin through his sacrifice on the cross. This means that we who are weak and perishable are given the gift and the ability to put on the imperishable.
We are allowed to share in the victory because of Jesus Christ’s revolutionary act of love. As believers, when our time comes, we will be able to say, “’death where is your victory?’ I have been set free through Jesus!”
Sin will always be something with which we struggle. But there will also always be little reminders that you can come home and be welcomed with open arms—even if those reminders might sting from time to time.